How to (and how often) Clean Your Makeup Brushes

I know that cleaning our makeup brushes is not on the top of anyone’s fun list. However, it’s one of those beauty tasks that have multiple benefits. Besides protecting your skin from breakout-inducing bacteria, properly cleaning your brushes can help them last longer and can make your makeup go on much smoother.

So how often do you really need to clean them? It would be best to clean off the excess makeup after each use with a rinse-free brush cleaner. Think of this as a quick hand-sanitizer for your brushes. Just a quick spray with your brush cleaner and wipe off the excess on a tissue will prevent bacteria from growing and from dirt and makeup from building up on the brush.

But a thorough cleansing of all your brushes should be done once a week to every other week, depending on the frequency of use and the products you’re using. Liquid products on brushes are a breeding ground for bacteria, so pay special attention to those.

For everyday cleaning, I use GloSkin Beauty Brush Cleaner. And my favorite product to give a full deep clean of my brushes is Dr. Bronner’s Castille Soap. I use the Lavender scent, but the Almond or the unscented Baby formulas are great too.

Castille soap is powerful enough to cut through dried liquid foundation crud but still gentle enough not to cause the bristles to fall out. It’s certified organic and contains no synthetic foaming agents, thickeners, preservatives, fragrances, dyes, or whiteners. But it IS super concentrated, so you only need a few drops.

I also love using a silicone cleansing mat. They do make it much easier to get all the makeup off your brushes

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How I Clean My Makeup Brushes:

1. Wet the brush
2. Put a *tiny* drop of Dr. Bronner’s Castile soap on the cleansing mat or directly on the brush
3. Roll the brush around on the cleansing mat to work up a bit of a lather and to loosen the makeup and the dirt.
4. Rinse thoroughly with water and watch all the gross makeup wash off down the drain.
5. Lay the brush on a towel to dry overnight

And that’s all!!! It should only take a few minutes to complete. I let my brushes dry overnight, so they are ready for me to use in the morning.

Click here for my Everyday Vintage Makeup tutorial.